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Beautiful on its own: Boulder County housing authorities employ human-focused design to improve outcomes for affordable housing residents

Caitlin Rockett

May 06, 2021 |

Boulder Weekly |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder, Colorado

In land-scarce Boulder, where high demand has priced many people out of the housing market, government-funded affordable housing has used human-focused design to look every bit as attractive as more expensive housing. Mixed-income developments like 30Pearl, accommodating formerly unhoused and developmentally disabled people, among others, combine quality construction and spacious design with a variety of programs like day care and job training, to improve residents' living conditions.

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Can ‘Open Streets' Outlast the Pandemic?

John Surico

April 29, 2021 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Many cities created "open streets" during the pandemic, limiting traffic on certain streets to give people a safe outdoor place to relax and play. Which programs outlive the pandemic depends on a host of factors, most especially how community-led the programs are. In Queens' Jackson Heights neighborhood, a densely populated community with many immigrants, closing a major street didn't work when police were at the barricades. But, under the leadership of the community, the daily closure turned into a street party and community-building event that is causing the city to rethink basic urban-planning concepts.

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Las Vegas's Traffic School for Pedestrians

Taylor Moore

April 16, 2021 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Las Vegas, Nevada

In Las Vegas, pedestrians and drivers ticketed for unsafe behavior can get their fines voided by taking a three-hour class called PedSAFE. More than 2,800 people have taken the class and, say its sponsors from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, graduate with a better understanding of how to keep pedestrians safe on Las Vegas' wide, pedestrian-unfriendly streets. While helpful, the program does not address more long-lasting fixes, such as ending racially inequitable jaywalking enforcement and designing safer streets.

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A lot of moving parts: A rundown on affordable housing in Boulder County

Angela K. Evans

April 15, 2021 |

Boulder Weekly |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boulder County, Colorado

Almost since housing costs shot up in Boulder County in recent decades, the city of Boulder and surrounding communities have used a variety of methods to protect working-class residents from being priced out of a luxury-dominated market. Some of the measures have bumped affordable-housing inventory up a few percentage points. But the numerous special taxes and incentives, plus coordination by a regional housing body, still fall far short of meeting the need thanks to two main factors: lack of funding and building-density restrictions. This story opens a series on what more can be done.

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In Denver, Tiny Homes Take On Affordable Housing

Mona Dougani

March 26, 2021 |

QNotes Carolinas |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Denver's Beloved Community Village is a development of 20 "tiny houses," affordable single-family homes that have helped residents obtain stable housing at rates that allow them to get ahead financially. Charlotte would have to change its zoning laws, and some residents' attitudes, to allow for such a hedge against homelessless. Those changes are possible, but will take time and much effort.

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Plan to beautify 50 vacant lots falls short nearly two years later

Manny Ramos

February 07, 2021 |

Chicago Sun-Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Since June 2019, Chicago's Grounds for Peace pilot project has begun cleaning up vacant, city-owned lots using an approach to urban beautification that has been shown in other cities, and in one Chicago neighborhood, to reduce crime and boost residents' feelings of safety. While the city and its contractors consider the project a success in the making, thus far only two of the original 50 targeted lots show signs of improvement. Project leaders blame funding shortfalls, disruptions due to the pandemic, and difficulties in removing abandoned vehicles.

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St. Louisans Mapped Monuments of Their City, and Uncovered Surprising Connections

Lyndsay Knecht

January 27, 2021 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

When the Public Iconographies project asked people in St. Louis "how would you map the monuments of St. Louis?", it got 750 hand-drawn maps telling stories of often-overlooked sites throughout the city. By letting people from the community determine what is important, the project ended up with a data-filled report channeling freeform responses. They included the spot where a Ferguson police officer killed Michael Brown, the site of a 1917 race riot, and Cahokia Mounds, a pre-Columbian site in the city. The project formed a counterpoint to efforts to remove problematic symbols, like a Columbus statue.

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In South Bend, Pete Buttigieg challenged a decades-old assumption that streets are for cars above all else

Ian Duncan

January 16, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, South Bend, Indiana

Reconfiguring streets to slow automobile traffic through its downtown business district and encourage pedestrians and bicycling enlivened South Bend's street life and proved a boon to its restaurants and other businesses. Then-Mayor Pete Buttigieg pushed for the $25 million plan to make the streets safer and encourage people to spend more time and money in the area. Drivers complained about increased travel time, as they have about other cities’ “complete streets” programs. But Buttigieg and his supporters hope to push the concept when he runs the federal Transportation Department.

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‘Slow Streets' Disrupted City Planning. What Comes Next?

Laura Bliss

January 06, 2021 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

When city planners rushed early in the pandemic to close streets to automobile traffic in order to give residents a safe space to roam outdoors, they ended up learning lessons entirely apart from their original goals rooted in public health and traffic safety. In Durham, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Oakland, community groups pushed back at the cities' initial failures to consider the opinions of communities of color whose neighborhoods were affected by the changes. The pushback led to collaborations and modified plans that redefined the problems at issue and the ways to address them.

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These Cities Tried to Tackle Disinvestment. Here Are Lessons From What Happened.

Tony Briscoe Haru Coryne

December 30, 2020 |

ProPublica |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Various government policies and programs have been implemented in Black communities facing urban decline but not all of them have been completely successful. Initiatives included: Expanding public transportation, refining tax codes, providing incentives for corporations, and supporting small businesses. The ideas yielded some results but also led to unintended negative consequences.

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